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Wednesday, 31 July 2019

In Christian circles, one often hears questions about morality and spiritual life phrased in the form, Is it biblical to...? Along the same lines, one hears of the importance of instilling a 'biblical worldview' in our children (which presumably does not mean teaching them that the earth is a flat disc resting on pillars). It is interesting that the relative frequency of the word 'biblical' grew rapidly between c. 1940 and 2000, according to Google Books Ngram viewer. It seems to be a very topical adjective.

What sorts of 'is-it-biblical-to' questions are contemporary Christians asking? You can answer this for your country of residence by going to Google.com, typing the words is it biblical to and observing the autocomplete suggestions that appear (which reflect the most common search queries entered in that country). In South Africa, the most popular 'is-it-biblical-to' searches end with:

vote? [bear in mind that South Africa recently had a national election]

cremate?

say rest in peace?

wear a wedding ring?

pray with candles?

be friends with your ex?

pray to saints?

pray to Mary?

pray with sand?

Here is a longer list of popular is-it-biblical-to searches in South Africa, obtained by filling in the first letter of the word after 'to': Anoint your house with oil? Ask God for a sign? Ask for money? Ask for a raise? Ask for the Holy Spirit to come? Be baptized more than once? Baptize babies? Be vegan? Become a member of a church? Borrow money? Be a stay at home mom? Circumcise? Charge interest? Call on angels? Celebrate birthday? Cast lots? Celebrate Easter? Call a pastor pastor? Cut ties with family? Donate blood? Donate organs? Drink water while fasting? Drink wine? Drink beer? Drink milk? Decree and declare? Defend yourself? Date? Dance in church? Eat meat? Eat pork? Eat eggs? Eat fish on Good Friday? Eat your placenta? Elope? Exercise? Enforce the law? Fast? Fast while menstruating? Fast for someone else? Forgive yourself? Forgive and not forget? Go to church? Go to church on Sunday? Get a loan? Gamble? Get a vasectomy? Get a tattoo? Have a girlfriend? Have church membership? Have godparents? Invest in the stock market? Interpret your own tongues? Interpret dreams? Judge others? Join a church? Journal? Pray to Jesus? Plead the blood of Jesus? Kiss before marriage? Kick someone out of church? Love yourself? Leave a church? Leave an inheritance? Live together before marriage? Marry your cousin? Marry without parental blessing? Pray to the Holy Spirit? Pay pastors? Pay church musicians? Pay bride price? Pay taxes? Pray before meals? Pray for healing? Renew wedding vows? Retire? Raise hands in worship? Say God bless you? Say no? Sue someone? Save money? Save for retirement? Speak in tongues? Separate from your spouse? Stand up for yourself? Speak things into existence? Set boundaries? Take your husband['s] name? Tithe in the new testament? Take care of your parents? Take communion at home? Take communion every Sunday? Take antidepressants? Use condoms? Use birth control? Use anointing oil? Use herbs? Visit graves? Wear jewelry? Work on Sunday? Wear a cross?

The moral dilemmas reflected in the above list range from the life-changing to the mundane. However, let us focus on the phrase, 'is it biblical'. This seems to be a problematic adjective to use to classify an action as morally right or acceptable, because it assumes that the Bible directly and unambiguously addresses the issue at hand. However, there are many issues in the list above (and many others not in the list) that the Bible does not directly address, or that it mentions, but without offering unmistakable, unequivocal teaching. Indeed, there are relatively few items in the above list on which the Bible speaks clearly and unequivocally, which is perhaps one reason why people are searching Google rather than simply reading/searching their Bibles.

This suggests that 'Is it biblical?' is the wrong question to ask, because it is rooted in a flawed assumption about how Christians ought to arrive at moral judgments. The question should rather be phrased as, 'Is it right?' or 'Is it wrong?' or 'Is it obligatory?' or 'Is it forbidden?' To answer these kinds of questions is to form one's conscience. How should a Christian form his or her conscience? Certainly divine revelation plays a vital role. However, because the Bible does not directly and unequivocally answer many of the moral dilemmas we face in contemporary society, formation of conscience requires interpretation of what has been revealed. And in order to avoid a situation where every Christian does what is right in his/her own eyes (to paraphrase the Book of Judges), according to his/her private interpretations, we Christians need an interpretative authority that can speak with clarity and conviction on the moral dilemmas of our time—in other words, that can bind and loose. Fortunately, Jesus provided for just such an authority within his Church (Matthew 16:17-19).

Thus Christians have access to a living voice that speaks on moral questions old and new, navigating the complexities of divine revelation with Holy Spirit guidance and facilitating the formation of conscience among the faithful. Perhaps the best news of all is that this voice's answers are accessible to Google's web crawlers.

About

Welcome to the personal blog of Thomas Farrar. Content consists mainly of biblical studies, theology and Church history written at a semi-technical level.

About the author

I am a Canadian residing in Cape Town, South Africa. I was received into the Roman Catholic Church at the 2017 Easter Vigil, having previously been a Baptist and, before that, a Christadelphian. A statistics lecturer by profession, I hold an Honours degree in theology and have published in peer-reviewed biblical studies journals. My curriculum vitae can be downloaded here. I enjoy spending time with my lovely wife and family, playing the euphonium, choral singing, reading, and writing.